February 06, 2008

By By Lars Brandle, London

Jazz Summers, chairman of the Music Managers Forum, is teaming with venture capital and advisory firm Power Amp Music to launch a tax-efficient investment vehicle with a view to developing U.K. artists.

Summers and Tim Parry, co-founders of Big Life Music and Management, are leading the Power Amp Music Fund's music management team, which is seeking to raise ?10 million ($20 million) as an Approved Investment Fund under the Enterprise Investment Scheme.

The fund aims to develop 20 to 30 artists. Mancini, an act unearthed via the "MobileAct Unsigned" program on Channel 4, is the first act signed to its roster, which will build up over time with emerging, established and "heritage" acts.

"This venture could not have launched at a better time -- the U.K. music scene is booming and the industry has been waiting for an egalitarian but profitable music enterprise," Summers said in a statement.

Power Amp Music aims to generate returns through the production and promotion of the new music projects it has backed.

"The industry has changed irrevocably and the hegemony major labels have long exerted over artists is crumbling," comments Tom Bywater, managing director and senior investment manager for Power Amp Music.

"Our artists will have control of their own destinies and total transparency of their finances," he adds, "but most importantly they retain control over how their copyrights are used."

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